What percentage of college students receive financial aid?

Answer 1

Sixty-six percent of all undergraduates received some type of financial aid in 2007-08. For those who received any aid, the total average amount received was $9,100. Fifty-two percent received grants averaging $4,900, and 38 percent took out an average of $7,100 in student loans. Seven percent received aid through workstudy jobs averaging $2,400 in wages, 2 percent received an average of $5,400 in veterans' benefits, and 4 percent of students had parents who took out an average of $10,800 in Parent PLUS loans. Parent PLUS loans are included in total aid but are not included in student loans because they are loans for parents of dependent students.

Forty-seven percent of all undergraduates received federal student aid in 2007-08, the average amount of which was $6,600. Sixteen percent received an average of $2,500 in state-funded grants and 20 percent received an average of $5,000 in grants funded by the postsecondary institution they attended.

In 2007-08, federal Pell Grants were awarded to 27 percent of all undergraduates at an average of $2,600, and 34 percent of all undergraduates took out federal Stafford loans averaging a total of $5,000. Subsidized Stafford loans were received by 30 percent of undergraduates and averaged $3,400, while 22 percent received an average of $3,200 in unsubsidized Stafford loans.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) Student Financial Aid Estimates for 2007-08, Selected Findings .